This invention relates to scissors.
It has long been known to manufacture scissors with finger and thumb bows either of the same size or with the finger bow larger than the thumb bow, and with both bows symmetrical about a central plane mid-point-of the handle thickness. So formed, the scissors can be used in both the left and right hand, but with the scissors not ideally suited for use in either hand.
To make scissors more comfortable to use, it has long been known to shape the finger and/or thumb bows to better suit their engagement by the hand of the user. However, and hitherto, shaping scissor bows has only been done to suit either the right hand or the left hand, and not both, and as there are greater numbers of right handed prospective users of scissors, it has been so that right handed scissors have been dominant, to the disadvantage of left-handed users.
The object of the invention is to provide a pair of scissors able to be used in comfort by both right handed and left handed users.
According to the present invention, a pair of scissors comprises blades and associated handles pivotally secured together, the handles forming respective finger and thumb bows that are symmetrical about the centre plane at the mid-point through their thickness, at least one (thumb) bow being formed as a rigid structure from the forward end towards the pivot to a point along the length of that bow, from where the at least one (thumb) bow has a rearward part formed from a form-stable but resilient and/or flexible material.
Preferably the aperture through the at least one (thumb) bow is formed wholly within the part of that bow formed from resilient and/or flexible material.
The other (finger) bow of the pair of scissors may be formed from hard material in conventional manner but preferably is also formed partly from hard material and partly from form-stable but resilient and/or flexible material, and again, it is desirable for the aperture in the other (finger) bow to be formed wholly within the part of that bow formed from resilient and/or flexible material.
For smaller scissors, it is conventionally so that the two bows are identically formed and this may be so with scissors of the invention. Thus, the handles may be identically formed as forward sections of hard material, and rearward sections containing the bows for the finger and the thumb respectively of either the left or the right hand. When the scissors are closed with reasonable force to cut the material placed between the blades, pressure from the thumb at least, is applied to the resilient and/or flexible section of the respective bow, to cause the rearward portion of the bow to flex, to the considerable comfort to the user, whether they be right or left handed.
With regard to both larger and smaller scissors, the hard material of the parts of the handles towards the pivots is preferably polypropylene, and the resilient flexible material of the rearward section is preferably santropene.
For larger scissors, it is customary for the finger bow to be larger than the thumb bow and allow several fingers to engage in the aperture. Here again whether used in the left or the right hand, a cutting force applied to the bows causes at least the thumb bow to yield or flex, to the considerable comfort to users whether they be right or left handed. With large scissors, the hard material of the forward part of the finger bow may be extended further along that bow over its upper and/or lower edge to provide a greater stability in the finger bow to resist the force applied by the fingers during the cutting action.